Ice Against Water

Clenching a fist to his side, Natsu irritably says more to himself than to anyone else, "A wind wizard? I'm already used to you guys." All the while Happy looks on, frightened by the almost impossibly large man.

"Erigor's nothing compared to him!" Happy warns, hoping Natsu will listen.

Natsu stares at his opponent with a wild grin, shifting his stance he bends over slightly before asks, "That just means that this guy is strong, right?"

"Of course he is!" Happy yells out at his friend, realizing too late that is what Natsu wanted to hear.

"Good." is all Natsu says before he launches himself at Aria. Lighting a fist on fire, he goes in for a punch while yelling, "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" With a flick of the wrist, Aria sends a gust of wind strong enough to send Natsu flying hard into the floor. With a quick flip, Natsu is back up and charging yet again, this time with his breath attack.

Again, Aria knocks Natsu back with ease and the flames fade out before even coming close to him. Ticked off, Natsu rushes headlong in again and again, constantly getting knocked back as the man in green continues to cry.

"Natsu! That isn't going to work!" Happy shouts out from behind Natsu. The blue cat looking extremely worried for his friend and not sure if Natsu can even beat Aria. From the looks of how easily he was knocking Natsu away, it didn't look good. After a particularly hard crash into the ground that left a dent, Natsu gets back up and stands there catching his breath as he figures out a plan. He raises a hand to rub at his cheek after landing on it from that last crash.

"You do well to remain standing. Impressive." Aria praises, no longer crying. That comment fans the flames of Natsu's anger and causes him to rush in again with a trail of fire leaving from his fist.

"Damn you…" he growls out during his charge. Happy stays behind, ready to help Natsu when he needs it and also trying to figure out how Aria is so powerful. He never seen such a one-sided fight with Natsu on the losing side, and this causes him to worry even more.

"But in the face of my "Airspace" magic, you are powerless!" continues Aria in a booming voice as if Natsu didn't interrupt him. The wind wizard shifts into a stance to attack.

"What the hell is Airspace magic?" asks Natsu as he cocks back a fist to attack. About 5 feet away from his enemy, Natsu suddenly crashes into something very solid, yet there is no wall that he can see. The force of his crash causes him to bounce backwards and the fire on his fist to go out again.

Already tired from his earlier battle with Totomaru, Natsu lands on his back instead of flipping before landing. Happy leans forward, almost summoning his wings to get to Natsu, but he holds back. He knows that he has only one shot to get Natsu away from the fight and he has to wait until the time is right.

"Invisible magic! What should we do?" Happy asks out loud to himself. As Natsu's body goes to make a second bounce, he recovers to flip and land on one knee. This catches Aria's attention.

"You can still stand, Salamander?" he questions, slightly impressed with the Fire Dragon Slayer's stamina and will to fight.

"I can't be defeated here." Natsu states as he stand back up again before loudly declaring, "Because I'm a Fairy Tail Wizard!" Natsu then takes a wide stance before yelling, "Now I'm fired up, you bastard!"

"Natsu…" Happy calls out, frightened by the possibility that Natsu may not be able to win this fight.

Aria decides to attack instead of defend as he calls out calmly, "Airspace… Suppress!" Faster than thought possible, a multitude of explosions appears around Natsu with most of them hitting him. He yells in pain as he is knocked backwards from the force of the blows, and more continue to hit as he is forced back.

Making a recovery, he dig his fingers and sandaled feet into the rug to slow himself down. Happy knows that Aria is too strong for Natsu to fight as he is the strongest of the Element 4, but he also knows that nothing he can say will stop Natsu from fighting until he can't fight anymore.

"Damn it…" Natsu mutters to himself as he gets back up for another try.

"There's always someone better, young dragon…" Aria calls out with sagely advice.

Natsu then takes his two fists and pounds them together for a different attack as he growls out, "Then how about this? Roar of the Fire Dragon!" He tries to use his flame breath attack again, hoping this one will go through. At first it seems to hit until just at the last moment, Aria disappears.

Happy cries out in warning, "He disappeared!" Hoping Natsu hears him if he didn't see Aria vanish. Surprised, Natsu starts looking around to see where the enormous man has gotten too.

"Where'd he go?" he asks no one in particular. Aria's voice booms out throughout the room, making it hard to tell where he is at.

"This is over, Salamander. Let me give you the same suffering I gave to Makarov…" At the end of those words, Aria appears behind Natsu just as he had with Master Makarov back in Oaktown. Noticing too late, Natsu can only turn to look as the massive sized Phantom Lord mage starts to cast the magic draining spell.

"Airspace… Ruin!" Aria says loudly. The golden glow from the spell engulfs Natsu and he starts to yell in pain as his magic is sucked out of his body.

Tears start spilling from underneath Aria's face bandages as he sobs out, "The sadness! No matter the wizard, inside this airspace their magical power will empty!"

"My power… it's being sucked out…" is all Natsu can manage to say between his cries of pain. Happy stands there grief-stricken, knowing that if he tries to fly in now his magic will get drained as well leaving them both powerless. He can only really save Natsu after he has been drained of his magic. And that fact tears him up inside, wishing there was something more he could do to help.

"Natsu!" screams Happy, powerless to do more.

"Damn it all…" Natsu croaks out as his skin starts turning green.

_______________

During Elfman's battle, but before Natsu's, Gray makes his way outside of the guildhall turned giant through a busted skylight just after it starts to rain.

"Was it raining before?" Gray asks toward himself, confused about the weather as he stares into the leaden sky.

"Drip, drip, drop." calls out a feminine voice from behind Gray. He turns to look to see a figure slowly making its way out of a cloud of fog.

When she can be seen clearly, she continues in a monotone voice, "Yes… Juvia is the rain woman, one of the Element 4. Drip, drip, drop." All the while still walking forward with a pink-hearted umbrella over her head. By now Gray has pulled himself up out of the skylight and faces Juvia with a hard expression on his face. The rain is getting him soaked, but he ignores that in favor of studying the enemy in front of him.

"You're one of the Element 4?" He asks of her, making sure he has heard her correctly.

With a blank expression on her face, she states, "I never would have thought that two of the elements would have been defeated." Her head lowers slightly, as her voice and expression hardens slightly.

"But do not underestimate Juvia and Aria." she declares. Remembering Lucy's story, he realizes that this is one of the mages responsible for not only kidnapping Lucy, but almost killing Krysti as well. The glare Gray sends her way could freeze fire, whether or not he is an ice mage.

"Sorry to break it to you, but I don't go easy on people who hurt my friends. Even if they're women or children…" he says in a deadly cool voice. They stare intensely at each other, both determined to fight for their guilds. Gray moves a small bit to get into a better attacking position. Without easing up on her glare, two small patches of pink appear on Juvia's cheeks, unnoticed by the man.

She awkwardly turns her back to Gray and stutters out, "R-Really?" in a voice that is losing its monotone.

She starts to walk away, slightly faster than before as she calls out, "Juvia gives up then! Goodbye!" Confused at first at her move of turning her back on him, now he is completely dumbfounded. His jaw drops in shock and his eyes widen to the point that they seem to be popping out of his head.

It takes him a couple of seconds to find his voice, "Whoa there! What the heck?" he shouts out at her still completely flabbergasted at the turn of events. Juvia on the other hand has her hand over her heart as she is being bombarded by emotions she has never had before.

Warm, fuzzy feelings grow inside her, bringing life to her otherwise cold, empty soul. She is dismayed at how rapidly the changes are taking place within her.

"What is wrong with Juvia?" she asks of herself, as her blush grows stronger. "Why is my heart beating like this?" From behind her, Gray is able to shake off his confusion and starts to run after the blue-haired woman.

"Wait, you! Stop the giant!" he yells out harshly, trying to catch her attention. As the new emotions run rampant within her, one thing starts to become clear to her.

She wants this man.

No.

She needs this man.

She needs him more than she has ever needed anything in her life. She turns to look again at the person who has invoked such powerful feelings within her soul.

"Juvia wants to make him her's." she says to herself as she makes the decision final. "Juvia can no longer hold back!" she declares to herself, never having the need to restrain herself before and not knowing how to now.

She put out a hand towards Gray as he is still running towards her and with a passionate cry of, "Water Lock!" she captures Gray in the same bubble of water that she used to catch Lucy. Caught off guard, Gray isn't able to dodge the attack.

As the water surrounds him, it aggravates the injuries that he sustained from Galuna Island and the raid against Phantom Lord. This causes Gray to lose some of the air that he had left in his lungs. Just now realizing that he is hurt, Juvia becomes very distressed.

"Oh no! He's injured! Whatever shall I do?" she cries out, unsure how to proceed to help the man that she wants to claim as hers.

"I must release him quick, or…" she worriedly says to herself as she starts waving her arm around rapidly from her fear. A bluish glow suddenly appears within the sphere of water as Gray growls. The water almost instantly turns into ice and shatters. Gray lets out a yell as he frees himself from the water now turned ice. Juvia stares at him in awe as her blush increases.

"He escaped from Juvia's Water Lock using his own power?" she quietly asks of herself with wide eyes. Her feelings for Gray grows even more.

"This is the power of an ice wizard…Exquisite!" Her heart start beating even more rapidly as she stares longingly at the Fairy Tail wizard in front of her. She grows warmer and electric tingles spread throughout her body like never before. Juvia was falling into love.

Fast and hard.

In her mind, an image cropped up of her standing in front of Gray, him holding gently onto one of her hands while the other is lovingly caressing her shoulder. They were staring deep into each others eyes. Eyes that are full of love and happiness.

Water and ice… it's like we're bound by fate! I've finally found you, Juvia's Prince! were her thoughts.

While in the real world, the real Gray was down on one knee, holding onto his wounded side as he was recovering from the Water Lock.

"Trying for a surprise attack, you bastard!" he spits out angrily towards Juvia. His rage towards the entirety of Phantom Lord increasing drastically. Blissfully unaware of his ire, Juvia is still lost in her fantasy about her and Gray. In an attempt to feel more comfortable, he painfully pulls off his shirt while being unaware what is happening to Juvia. If he had any idea, he would probably would put more clothes on.

"Ouch!" he cries out as a particularly painful twinge occurs. Juvia's face grow hot and she grows almost ecstatic at seeing him taking off his shirt.

"Why is he stripping?" she squeals to herself as she spins from the sheer joy at seeing the one she is falling for without a shirt on. Due to her watery nature, literal steam shoots out of her ears from how hot she is feeling. Unknowing of how real romance works, she takes it completely the wrong way, unfortunately for the ice mage.

"I-I-I think we should take things more slowly…" Juvia manages to say, falsely believing that he feels the same way towards her and wants to start doing romantic things with her. Her entire face now is pink from the blush and her heart is beating wildly in her chest.

Completely clueless of what she said or her emotional state, Gray says commandingly, "I don't want to frighten a woman, but you'd better surrender immediately." He begins to shift into an attack stance, determined to pay back this woman for all the trouble she caused his friends.

"Otherwise you're going to get hurt!" he finishes telling Juvia just as his hands start to glow from his magic.

"Ice Make Lance!" he shouts out as he shoots out dozens of ice spears towards the lovesick water mage. Without moving, almost all of the spears hit and go through Juvia which completely surprises Gray as he expected her to dodge or at least block. Worry is coupled with the surprise as he believes at first that he might of killed her as chunks of Juvia is missing.

He wanted payback, not to kill the rival mage! Only as she starts to speak is when he notices the areas of her body around where his attack landed were just water. Juvia speaks calmly to Gray a moment later as if he didn't attack her at all.

"Juvia's body is made of water." she explains, which causes Gray's worry that he might of killed her to be replaced with worry on how to defeat her. His attack did more than he realized. It helped calm down her raging emotions and literally cool her off.

"Yes… drip, drip, drop…" she says in a much calmer tone that is close to her normal monotone that she had before meeting Gray. He gasps as she is able to effortlessly reform back to normal. She looks down in despair as his attack helped her refocus on the situation.

"That's right… He's an enemy. Torn apart by strife, that is their tearful fate!" she says softly to herself. Her determination strengthens as she looks up to give Gray a passionate stare.

"But Juvia will not lose heart!" she says loudly to herself. "Farewell, my small blossom of love!" she tells Gray as she lifts her palm to face him before attacking.

"Water Slicer!" she cries out as her magic activates. Thin, crescent-shaped blades of water shoot out towards Gray. He dodges the attack and looks back to see the water slice through solid rock in a powerful attack.

"High powered water jets can even cut through steel." she explains for her love's benefit.

"Underestimate water, and you will regret it." she warns. With a quick turn and shout, Gray sends out another attack towards Juvia.

"Ice Make Battle Axe!" he shouts. The attack cuts right through her again without harming her at all. Gray might as well be attacking a lake, all the good his attacks are doing against her.

Confidently, in a hard voice that is now filled with emotions, she tells him, "Try again and again, but nothing will change. Against Juvia, physical attacks are ineffective. Yes… Drip, drip, drop…"

Gray glares at her, wracking his brains to try to find a way to win. "She's a tough one…" he admits to himself. Trying to squash the feelings that are within her, Juvia continues to talk in her new calm tone.

"You cannot defeat Juvia." She decides to try to plead with her newfound love to give up so he will no longer get hurt. "You still have a chance to save yourself. Bring me Lucy Heartfilia, please. If you do, I will ask my master to withdraw." At hearing this, Gray gets really offended that this Phantom Lord mage would think that he would ever possibly hand over one of his family members just to save himself.

"Hey, don't give me that crap." he says coldly much to Juvia's surprise. "We're both already way past the point of retreating." As he talks his voice grows colder and more harsh.

"You almost killed my friend and Lucy is our ally! I'll give up my life before handing her over to you!" he says loudly with firm, unshakable resolve.

The shock of hearing words come out of Gray's mouth that sound so much like the words of love causes her to drop her umbrella.

Give up his life?

Juvia feels like she is adrift in space floating away to be lost forever as those words echo in her mind. But one thought leaps out into her mind and she grabs at it like a person clutching at straws to keep from drowning.

A love rival!

(How dare Lucy Heartfilia capture the heart of the man Juvia loves! Juvia must prove herself worthy of the love she so desperately craves. Juvia must kill Lucy Heartfilia.) An anger surges through Juvia that she has not felt before. All the years of pain and torment rises to the surface, fueling new newfound hate and jealously.

Juvia, never knowing love or affection has confused loyalty and family bonds to be the same as romantic love. She screams out in pain as she clutches her head as the hatred and jealousy wreak havoc throughout her mind. Shocked yet again at her actions, Gray yelps as concern for her grows.

The way she is screaming and clutching at her head, it seems like Juvia is being tortured. Only if Gray knew how right he was.

"What pain!" Juvia sobs out as her thrashing stops. "What harsh fate! My heart… My heart feels like it's going to rend asunder!" she tearfully cries out. She starts to jerk her body from side to side as the pain in Juvia's heart swells.

"It hurts!" she sobs out again.

"What's the matter? Are you ill?" Gray calls out with great concern, his natural kindness allowing him to forget for a moment that she is the enemy. At hearing his voice, Juvia calms down and straightens up from where she has been hunched over. A terrifying expression crosses her face as she looks at the person who caused her such great pain.

To give the absolute wonderful feeling of being truly in love when never having being in love for real before, only to have it ripped away by betrayal as her love claims to be so in love with someone else that he is willing to give up his life for her.

Unrelenting fury takes a hold as she mutters, "Juvia will not forgive." Magic starts leaking out of her body in pure white light, almost akin to lightning.

"Lucy shall not be forgiven!" she shouts out in righteous fury. Gray just stands there watching Juvia turn into a full on psycho. Slack-jawed and confused beyond belief, he has no idea why this woman all of the sudden has it out for Lucy. Without warning, a high powered jet of water crashes into Gray. And its hot. Boiling hot.

The intense heat against his cold body makes it feel even hotter than it is. Thanks though to his constant battles with Natsu, it doesn't bother him as much as it would have any other ice mage. Not like he would ever admit anything like that to the flame-brain. The water subsides and steam is coming off of his body.

"Ouch!" he manages to get out through his gritted teeth. "Boiling water? And why are you mad at Lucy?" he asks, confused with her actions and attacks. Juvia on the other hand is still held tightly within the grip of her anger and jealousy. Above all else she must defeat the man she loves so she can kill Lucy Heartfilia, the Love Rival, to prove to her beloved that she is the only one for him.

That is going through her mind like a mantra. She is not going to let anyone stop her, not even her beloved. Bringing her arms together, another jet of boiling water fueled by her anger shoots out towards Gray. Sensing her attack, he immediately goes on the defensive.

"Ice Make…" is all he can say before the water has reached him. Barely dodging, he flips and jumps out of the way as the extremely fast water jet rushes at him like a snake.

"It's fast!" he shouts out in disbelief. "My Creation Magic can't keep up!" After another dodge, he slips on the wet stone and slides towards the edge. Almost falling off, he is able to regain his balance in time to avoid a nasty plunge.

Looking down where he almost fell he says worriedly, "That was close…" Getting a better handle of her raging jealousy to focus her magic better, she slowly walks towards Gray.

She thinks that perhaps telling him a bit of her life will open his eyes to see her and renounce the love he holds for Love Rival and then love Juvia and only Juvia.

"Ever since Juvia was born, she's lived within the rain." Surprised, Gray turns quickly to watch her approach. "In the rain, there is no one who can defeat Juvia!" She stops walking and raises a hand high into the air.

A magic circle appears as she calls out loudly, "Be boiled inside Juvia's jealousy!" Above the circle a demonic face appears in the water spout that she has created. The face crumples inward and turns into short burst water jets.

"What?" Gray asks, unsure of what is going on in this woman's head, as he quickly hops backwards to avoid the boiling water. When one of the jets goes up higher than the others, he takes time to use his magic.

"Ice Make Shield!" he shouts as a literal shield of ice forms on his arm to protect him from the boiling water. The shield quickly melts under the intense heat of the water.

"What incredible heat! I can't stand it!" Gray declares as he tries to figure out a way to counterattack.

"I told you already!" Juvia cries out angrily. "Inside the rain is Juvia's world! No one can defeat Juvia!" A sudden explosion of steam startles Juvia, causing her to break off her attack. As it clears, Gray cannot be found but a broken skylight suggests where he might of gone. She stares at the window, expressionless as she walks slowly towards it.

"He used the steam as a smoke screen? He's not just a pretty face, he's smart, too." she says to herself in an admiring tone. Her hand goes up to her blushing face and her expressionless mask falls to show the love that she is harboring for Gray.

"So amazing…" Juvia whispers, her voice full of quiet passion for the ice mage. As Juvia is letting her passionate love for Gray cloud her judgment, the focus of her amorous longings is running in the building just underneath. Sensing that he isn't being pursued, the usually cool-headed guy contemplates on taking a break to recover and make a plan of attack. He looks out another window and see the giant's moving arm.

He growls to himself, "I don't have time to take a break! I've got to stop that magic quick!"  he runs for a few more steps when his fighting instinct kicks in and causes him to stop just as a rush of water breaks through one of the skylights above and in front of him.

The rushing water rises up to become a wall of water that fills up the entire hallway. With great speed it throws itself at Gray and engulfs him as it pushes him back.

"That's hot! My skin is burning!" he shouts out in surprise, forgetting that Juvia is attacking him now with boiling water. Juvia's attack bursts through another skylight that is near her and carries Gray along with it. As quickly as it appeared, it fades away leaving Gray high up in the air.

"This is the end for you!" Juvia shouts out as she send another blast of water towards the man she claims to be in love with. Getting angrier over the situation and pressed for time, Gray flips in midair to face the attack and blocks it with both his hands.

"Why you…" he almost snarls out at Juvia.

"He flew straight into the boiling water!" Juvia says in dismay as she continues the attack.

"Freeze!" Gray yells as he activates his magic to overcome the temperature of the boiling water and to cause it to be frozen in place while he continues to fall to the ground. As he is close to landing, the ice starts to form around Juvia's feet and quickly crawls up her body.

"B-But…Juvia's boiling water was frozen?" is all she is able to worriedly say before becoming effectively trapped within a block of ice. Gray has the whole area around Juvia to become solid ice, but he doesn't freeze her.

Knowing his hand will be in the ice along with her, Gray aims to let his hand fall in front of her as he hits the ground. Closing his eyes before landing, he takes a deep breath to help calm his anger somewhat before he opens them.

Without realizing it, Gray made a slight miscalculation in where his hand was going to end up. The sight that meets his eyes shocks him to the very core. There in front of him was a pretty woman encased in his ice, and his hand roughly holding onto one of her breasts.

Not being a pervert despite his unfortunate habit of taking off his clothes due to his childhood training, Gray is immediately mortified at what he is doing. While on the other hand, Juvia is positively ecstatic.

Here was the man that is her true love and soul mate for eternity making a bold move to show his true affections.

By grabbing onto her breast, she becomes more convinced than ever before that she and Gray were meant to be together forever and ever. Her amorous emotions are rekindled by what she believes to be a physical declaration of love.

Not realizing that she is enjoying the contact and would rather him continue what he is doing, Gray becomes frantic is trying to let her know that he is in fact not a pervert or a molester no matter what Natsu says.

"That's not…it's not…" Gray stumbles over his words as he quickly tries to explain that he didn't mean to grab her there. For Juvia, despite how much in love she is, it feels a bit too soon for that particular kind of love and so feels fairly embarrassed at Gray's supposed eagerness to prove his undying devotion towards her. (Juvia is so embarrassed. Like this, forever, inside your ice… )

She thinks that before beginning to fantasize about her and him trapped together forever in a block of ice while sharing a loving embrace. Her face shows her slight discomfit at the speed that their relationship is going at. Gray though sees it as she is uncomfortable and humiliated and many other things that he never wanted associated with him.

He cries out, "Sorry!" before jumping away from the pillar of ice that he has made and effectively freeing his hand from the ice and Juvia. Many thoughts and feelings are warring within Gray, guilt and embarrassment being the chief amongst them. As he stands there awkwardly, his magic dissipates and releases Juvia from its hold.

Suddenly free, she falls down to her knees with a small cough as she can now breathe again. Disbelief written all across her face, she slowly lifts her head up to stare at the man in front of her. (He released me from the ice? Why?) Knowing that they were fighting and he could of won, she can't understand why he would let her go.

He's too kind! she thinks, misinterpreting the situation yet again. Her love-filled gaze drinks him his visage as her admiration and respect for him continues to grow. Not paying attention to Juvia's not so subtle hints that she is crushing on him, hard, Gray attempts to whitewash that embarrassing incident away.

"Let's start over again!" he says loudly with a grand sweeping gesture, hoping that she would forget about the accidental grope and just start to fight him again.

Juvia gets back up off her knees and says in a soft, sad voice, "No, I can't. Juvia cannot bring herself to harm you…" She isn't able to bring herself to look him in the eyes so she settles for looking at his feet.

Confused again at the sudden change in her demeanor, Gray asks in a much calmer tone, "Huh? So you're admitting you can't win against me?" He is unsure of what she means and hopes he can finally get a clear answer from this strange woman. Juvia, unwilling to bring herself to fight anymore, decides to try to reason with Gray to prove that she is the better choice than the other woman.

"Juvia is stronger than Lucy." she states, still unable to lift to gaze away from her true love's feet. "Juvia will be able to protect you." she explained more, still speaking softly.

"Protect? Me?" Now Gray is confused even more at the direction the Element 4's mind has taken. He has yet to figure out why Juvia is so against Lucy, much less anything else about her or why she has been behaving in such a strange manner. The rain that has been coming down in a gentle downpour intensifies.

Juvia, still not looking directly at Gray, gets a stricken look on her face.

"B-Because… I-I…l-lo…" she stammers out in her soft voice that is steadily getting drowned out by the sound of the pour rain as it continues to pour down harder. Barely able to hear her, Gray turns around to survey the storm better.

"Sheesh, now the rain has gotten stronger." he complains to himself in a partly annoyed voice.

Perturbed by the fact that she can't seem to openly express her feelings as she wants to, Juvia wails out, "Juvia is frustrated!" While the rain that has been with her throughout her life and connected to her emotions continues to pour down harder.

"Man, this rain is so gloomy…" Gray continues talking to himself, ignoring the woman behind him. Shock fills Juvia's system as Gray's words echo through her mind. (Gloomy…Gloomy…Gloomy…) Each echo sends a knife of pain into her heart.

She falls to her knees again as the pain of betrayal weighs in heavily throughout her soul. The splash made by her fall catches Gray's attention. He turns around in surprise to see her down on the ground and slumped over again.

"What's the matter?" he calls out to her worriedly. Despite the fact that they are enemies, Gray is a kind-hearted person who is willing to help Juvia if she requires it.

Staring at the ground, Juvia whispers to herself, "He's no different than all the others!" Her voice cracking at the overwhelming sadness now within from the supposed betrayal. Almost instantly, the sadness turns into enraged fury and without realizing it, she is standing again with scalding hot steam flaring out from her body.

"You're all the same!" she roars out, even angrier than when she thought that Gray was in love with Lucy. The abrupt 180 change in her attitude catches Gray off guard once again.

"What?" he asks, again confused at what caused the change within the female Phantom Mage as he leans back in defense. (Juvia has no need for love anymore!) She decides for herself as this has become the last straw. The last treason made against her and her life at trying to be a regular person.

An even more powerful jet of boiling water engulfs Gray before he could put his arms up to guard. He lets out a strangled yell as he is being pushed backwards from the force of the water.

Luckily, he able to find his footing again and prepares to freeze the boiling water once more as he pushes his arms in front of him. His magic activates, yet nothing happens. He figures that the water must be even hotter than before if his ice magic can't freeze like he did earlier.

"Love… Who needs love?!" Juvia screams out in pain and grief. The water blast grows in size and strength to go along with her rage and it causes Gray to lose his footing and get carried away. Juvia becomes lost in her memories of grief and loneliness as no one has ever wanted her around due to her rain.

Even as a child, she has been unwanted, and sad. The kids would wish she would go away and take her gloomy rain with her. She would make a little ghost like doll to be her friend since no other kids would want to play with her. The bullies would come and rip Juvia's doll away and smash it into the mud until it was no longer recognizable.

This caused her sadness to grow along with the rain. She would make many more of the same doll so at least she could have one friend to stay with her. While growing up, any relationship she would have would end soon after it started because no one could stand her rain. The same went with any people who were near her as well.

They would all call her and/or her rain gloomy, which would make her even more miserable which in turn would strengthen the rain. It was a sad and lonely life for the poor girl connected to the rain. And now, when she finally found the man who was meant to be with her for the rest of her life, he says the word. The one word that has defined her entire life.

Gloomy.

Her prince charming, her soul mate, her one true love, is nothing more than another person in a long line of people in her life who has never wanted her around. She thought he was different, he seemed so kind, and smart, and is devilishly handsome, she thought this time it would work.

What hurt more than the sting of his deceitfulness and even the loss of love in her life, was the fact that she has let herself have hope. Hope that she could finally end this cycle of torment and loneliness that is her life. Yet with that one word, Gray has ripped all of that away from her, and for that she will not forgive him.

"Juvia is nothing but a gloomy rain woman!" she screamed out her pain and loneliness as she continued to attack Gray with all she had.

A note of gratitude enters her grief-stricken voice as she continues to scream, "And yet Phantom Lord accepted Juvia for who she is! Juvia is one of the Element 4! A Phantom Wizard!"

Gray was able to make it to the edge of the water blast and gets flipped in the air as he takes a much needed breath of air. Still furious at the betrayal from the one person she has let herself fall in love with, she turns her entire body into boiling hot water and blasts off to attack him herself.

"I'm not gonna lose!" Gray yells out to her as she is still screaming out her mental anguish as she rushes towards him. Juvia launched herself into the air and sends another blast of scalding water towards Gray. He makes a one handed ice shield and the force of the blast causes the roof under his feet to crack into pieces.

"Not to Phantom!" he continues to yell. Using his other hand, he punches his shield to send another blast of ice magic into the water to freeze it. With his will to win strengthened, so is his magic and he succeeds in freezing the water. Expecting it this time, Juvia breaks away the attack just before the ice freezes her again. As she falls, something catches her attention.

"He even froze the rain? What incredible magical power!" she exclaims in disbelief.

Gray then kneels and punches the ground with both hands while yelling in a guttural way, "Ice Geyser!" In response, a massive fountain of ice shoots out of the ground at a stunning rate. The attack hits Juvia, effectively freezing her once again before shattering.

The force behind the blow caused her to yell out from physical pain. Unfortunately for her, it was also enough to knock her far enough away from the roof that she would miss it completely and if she didn't hit part of the giant much further below, then Juvia will hit the ocean.

Being out of magic, she can't change into her liquid form and would suffer serious injuries if not die from the fall. She knows she lost the fight as soon as that last attack hit. As she falls, she accepts her fate that soon she may escape from her painful life.

(Juvia, like a raindrop, will fall to the ground, and scatter into tiny fragments… A fitting end to an unwanted rain woman… Farewell, my gloomy self…) Her eyes closed as she calmly waited for death to take her.

Without warning, a cold hand grabs tightly onto one of her own and her shoulder cries out in pain from the force of her falling body. Her eyes snap open in shock to see the face of the one person who brought so much joy and so much pain and grief into her life in such a short amount of time.

Gray.

Speechless, she hangs in the air as his tight grip seems to promise to her that he will never let go. As she fell, Gray made a desperate dash off the roof and slid down the slope in hopes of stopping her fall and saving her life. Gray is no killer and won't let anyone die on his watch as long as he is able to. Enemy or not, no one dies.

"Don't let go of my hand!" he barks out at Juvia. "I'm not letting you fall!" With a grunt and straining hard, he is able to pull her up onto the edge of the ledge. Breathing heavily, he helps her to her feet and helps her climb back up the slope to the top of the roof where it is safer. All the while Juvia is quiet, thinking.

Emotions swirl through her at a dizzying pace and she struggles to try to make sense of things. Why did he save her? If it was the other way around, she would of let him fall. So why didn't he? At the top of the roof, he lets her go and she sinks to the ground to lie on her back, letting the lessened rain to soak her face. Gray sits next to her in companionable silence, overlooking the ocean. After a few moments, Juvia speaks up.

"Why did you save Juvia?" she questions. Gray was expecting this and answers honestly.

"Beats me." he says with a shrug of his shoulders. "Anyways, get some sleep." he tells her in a gently chiding voice as he leans an elbow against his raised knee. The question of why did Gray save her continued to go through her mind as she stares at his back. He turns his head over his shoulder to look at her.

"So, finally cooled down?" he asks with a slight grin. Her eyes water up as the love and respect she held for him returns slowly. She almost doesn't want to believe in it again from how painful it was when it was torn from her. Then something amazing happened to Juvia.

She felt happy.

Happy that she didn't die. Happy that despite everything that has happened, here seems to be a person who actually wanted her. Someone who risked his life to make sure she was ok. Someone who might actually not mind if she was around.

A bright light from the sky that she has never seen before shines into her eyes. She closes them from the suddenness of it all. Then with one eye, she opens it slightly to see what is causing all the light and sudden warmth upon her face. With a gasp she opens them both wide.

"Huh?" she questions. For there in the sky was a beautiful bright blue patch that she has never seen before in her entire life. The rain no longer falling, she stares up into the sky in wonder.

"The rain has stopped…" she whispers in breathless wonder. This was all new to her. Never has Juvia the Rain Woman been without rain. The longer she watches, the less of the familiar grey clouds that has always followed her throughout her life there seems to be. The blue patch continues to grow and lighten into fluffy white shapes much higher in the sky.

Raking his finger through his hair as he stares up to the sky, Gray says happily, "Oh, it's finally clearing up."

"These are…clear skies…" Juvia says wonderingly, only hearing about them from other people.

"I never seen them before…" she almost whispers to herself as she continues to stare into the beautiful blue sky and the warm sun beaming down at them.

"Really?" Gray asks in surprise as he looks back over his shoulder to stare at her. He sees the look of awe on her face and knows that she isn't making it up. She honestly never saw the sky before. He gives a small laugh as he turns back to look towards the sky again.

"Nice, huh?" he asks of her. "Clear skies are great." he continued to say before giving her time to answer. A flock of birds flies overhead as she looks on, still awed by the beauty. Tears start to well in her eyes at being able to see something so precious.

"Yes… They're beautiful, truly…" she replies with a voice that is starting to get choked up in emotion.

"So, up for round 2?" Gray asks Juvia in a joking manner, knowing that they are both too tired to fight anymore right now. He turns his upper body to face her easier as he asks this with a warm smile on his face. Juvia pulls her gaze down from the sky to look at Gray and her heart stops as a gasp is stuck in her throat.

The way the sun lightens up his features, battle-worn or not, to produce a radiant glow where it touches, and how his hair shines so beautifully leaves an image of unearthly beauty to the lovesick woman.

This man, who was able to put happiness in her heart and has given her the greatest gift that she could ever receive, now became almost god-like in her eyes. As her poor mind couldn't handle the situation anymore, Juvia passed out at the sight of his almost supernaturally good looks.

Before her mind went black she decided that she would worship and protect this man, her love, for the rest of her life.